Outpatients Junior Sister Burns Unit

Job overview

Junior Sister Burns Unit, Band 6

We have a exciting opportunity to join the senior burns nursing team on the burns adult unit outpatients at Chelsea and Westminster hospital.  This role will entail leading a team of MDT professional in the clinic to ensure we deliver the outstanding care of our complex burns patient from across the London area.

The Burns Unit at Chelsea and Westminster hospital is a regional centre where you will gain skills in adult burns care, outpatients and HDU.

We offer a friendly and supportive working environment and work with a dynamic multidisciplinary team where education is seen as a priority. If you want to provide excellent, compassionate and dynamic care to patients and their families, we would like you to join our team.

This Sisters post will be a clinical post, providing support to junior members of staff, ensuring clinic are safely staffed and that the nurses on duty have the experience and support to care for our complex patients. The role will also involve implementing change, completing audits, education and completing the appraisal and revalidation of junior nurses.

Band 6 expectations;

• To manage a small group of staff under the support of a Band 7
• Role model excellent burns skills and management
• Active participation in the MDT meetings
• Demonstrate the Trust values
• Be a clinical expert developing practice in line with national and international guidelines
• Assist the Practice Development Sister in education and improvement.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be a clearly identifiable senior clinical staff member, and team leader. They will have significant clinical experience, provide sound clinical expertise to their team, and coordinate and deliver high quality care. They will be a role model for expert clinical care, and lead on specific projects / management functions as delegated by the Sister / Charge Nurse. They will role model the identified Trust values at all times.

In general settings, they will be the assigned deputy for their manager, generally known as a  Sister / Charge Nurse, coordinating clinical, managerial and education requirements of the area, and being a role model for team members, whilst delivering and overseeing high standards of care. In midwifery settings they will be called a Midwife.

In specialist settings, they will have a significant level of specialist clinical knowledge and expertise in the clinical functions of care delivery. They will provide advice and guidance also, and generally be known as a senior staff nurse.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Clinical:

• Lead on assessing planning and implementing high quality care, and evaluating care options for patients in the clinical area, in line with the Trust values and objectives
• Lead on complex clinical care for patients within their area
• Ensure the safe custody, maintenance and administration of medication, in accordance with established Trust policy
• Promote and maintain a safe therapeutic environment for patients, their families and staff, according to national and local Infection Control guidelines, Health & Safety legislation and Trust policies and objectives
• Coordinate follow up appointment, promoting timely and safe processes for them
• Ensure that patient flow and the management of appointments is effective and safe
• Provide sound evidence based clinical advice as required to staff and patients
• Maintain a good understanding and implementation of clinical escalation procedures as required
• Understand the Trust clinical governance framework, and participate in the promoting and safeguarding of high standards of care, through effective risk management & governance, and adherence to the Trust values
• Ensure that the team promote, ensure and adhere to the Trust safeguarding polices
• Undertake effective multi professionally work with colleagues to deliver care
• Coordinate and manage nurse led clinics where appropriate
• Coordinate specialist functions, including making clinical decisions where appropriate
• Monitor quality of standards of care, in line with CQC requirements and Trust and Divisional objectives
• Deliver and supervise a high quality patient experience
• Work with manager to collect and disseminate data on quality indicators etc, in line with national and Trust objectives
• Maintain a safe working environment, including ensuring equipment is safe, and used in line with Trust policy and values
• Promote and maintain patient safety at all times, including proactively implementing falls prevention
• Lead role in the detection, management and prevention of safeguarding issues
• Have an awareness of current professional and clinical developments within their area of practice and promote this to others
• Triage burns referrals in lines with the burns care standards

• Leadership and management:

• Manage the day to day staffing arrangements and rotas, to ensure safe levels of practice

• Ensure staff adhere to Trust protocols of care, eg Infection Control
• Take continuing responsibility for the Ward / Department in absence of manager
• Lead and manage their own clinical team within general clinical areas, and of the total team in the absence of the manager, in line with Trust values
• Develop and maintain effective communication and working relationships with other professional groups, and staff generally within the Division and the Trust
• Contribute to the effective management of the area by ensuring correct levels of staff are in place to deliver and assist with the planning of off duty rotas
• Assist in the delivery of induction / orientation of new staff
• Act as a role model, ensuring staff work to Trust guidelines and values
• Supervise, under the direction of their manager, the work of qualified and unqualified staff and learners
• Provide clinical support and guidance to staff
• Act as a resource for clinical knowledge to staff
• Initiate action on complaints & incident management and responses, and assist in their investigation and resolution
• Participate in recruitment and selection, and develop effective selection and interviewing skills
• Undertake appraisals of staff, following training
• Chair team meetings as required
• Lead on specific projects, as indicated and agreed by manager
• Have a working knowledge of budget arrangements for area, focussing on cost effectiveness and quality, to ensure maximum use of resource
• Understand and manage local change with team members, including the embedding of new projects

3.Education & research:

• Participate in the education of all learners within their area
• Actively support and assist in preceptor ship and in pre-registration student support, supervision  and guidance  including mentorship where appropriate
• Identify and respond to learning needs for area
• Develop and deliver or organise local training sessions, mindful of the Trust values
• Facilitate others in the development of informal teaching skills
• Participate in the annual training needs analysis for their area
• Participate in any local or related research projects, clinical trials etc
• Apply and encourage others to utilise evidence based practice and relevant research findings in practice
• Identify areas of nursing / midwifery research within their area that will be of benefit, and encourage and educate other staff to recognise the importance of research
• Participate in clinical supervision / acting as supervisor

• Professional development:

• Maintain professional registration
• Ensure mandatory training and a satisfactory appraisal is in date
• Undertake a professional development plan and demonstrate achievement of objectives
• Ensure adherence to Trust policy and guidelines at all times
• Role model Trust values at all times

5.Communication

• Ensure all communication, which may be complex, contentious or sensitive, is undertaken in a responsive and inclusive manner, focusing on improvement and ways to move forward.
• Ensure all communication is presented appropriately to the different recipients, according to levels of understanding, type of communication being imparted and possible barriers such as language, culture, understanding or physical or mental health conditions.

• Specific skills / Competencies for Burns Unit

• To develop Burns based guidelines with support of colleagues.
• To actively participate in Burns team projects and facilitate the management of change in relation to team group project work.
• Provide formal teaching sessions in relation to burns course as part of the Foundations of Burns programme